Everything you wanted to know about prostate cancer (and weren't afraid to ask)

​The symptoms of prostate cancer Most men with early prostate cancer do not have symptoms. Symptoms, such as problems urinating, might be mild and happen over many years. The first noticeable symptoms may be from prostate cancer which has spread to the bones. If this happens, you might notice pain in your back, hips or pelvis that was not there before. This pain could be caused by other problems but it is still a good idea to get them checked out by your GP if you are worried.

Who is at risk? In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives. Older men, men with a family history of prostate cancer and men of black African and black Caribbean descent are more at risk.​

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Blood Test This measures the total amount of PSA in your blood. PSA is a protein produced by both normal cells in the prostate and prostate cancer cells. It is normal for all men to have a small amount of PSA in their blood. A raised PSA level may indicate a problem with your prostate, but not necessarily prostate cancer. All men aged over 50 are entitled to have a PSA test as long as they have first talked through the pros and cons with their GP. You can have a PSA test at your GP surgery.

What is Advanced Prostate Cancer?

PC UK have produced a new animation:“What is advanced prostate cancer?”. It is for men with advanced prostate cancer and their friends and family. It’s been developed as part of the online self-management guide on advanced prostate cancer. The aim is to help people understand what advanced prostate cancer is, how it can spread, and how it might cause problems, in a way that is easy-to-understand. This should give people the background knowledge to understand the problems they might have and how they might be able to use self-management technique and hopefully increase confidence when men are discussing these problems with health professionals and accessing further support. Videos with more information accessible here.

Everything you wanted to know about prostate cancer (and weren't afraid to ask)

Following the announcement, in February 2018, that the number of prostate cancer deaths annually had overtaken deaths from breast cancer, PC UK specialist nurses drew together their answers to the most commonly asked questions about Prostate Cancer. You can find the questions and the answers here. Also, after the brave announcements from Stephen Fry and Bill Turnbull about their prostate cancer, the nurses have been taking a lot of calls from men wanting to find out about symptoms of prostate cancer and wondering if they could or should be tested and what that involves. Specialist Nurse Ali Rooke sets out the facts here.